Car dumper



D. M. HARRISAND J. w. BAIR.

CAR BUMPER. APPucATlQN FILED APR415, 1920.

Patented Nov. M, 1922.

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Patented Nov. M, 1922.

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CAR BUMPER. i

Application iled April 15,

To all vii/wm it may concern:

Be it known that we, DANIEL M. Hannie and Jnssii l/V. Bein, both citizens oit the United States, the former residing'v in the city ot Johnstown, county of Cambria, and State oit Pennsylvania, and the latter residing in the borough oi" Ferndale, county of Cambria, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful improve-4 ments in Car Dumpers; and we do hereby declare the following;` to he a full, clear, and exact description ot the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to ina-ke and use the saine. Y v

'Our invention relates to car dumpers in which gravity causes the cars to follow a path. oit such outline that trie cars in their passage through the damper are automatically inverted,einptiedand righted, and it also relates to means adapted to control the speed and movement of the cars in their passage through the dumper.

Our invention is shown and described in connection with mining; operations and is iior thepurpose ot emptying cars containing;r ore, coal, stone or other materials and de positingv the saine in a convenient` 'place for further handling, and although, it is particularly adapted to the above uses, we wish it understood that ourinveiitioii is not limited to or defined by the particular applications mentioned as it may be used in other connections and arts by those skilled therein without deviaiiing from the intent or purpose or' this specification.

Une of the objects of our. invention is to provide an automatic car dumper in which the cars are actuated by gravity, thereby eliminating` power requirements and effecting` a considerable saving,r in labor as coini pared with the present types oiE mechanical power dumpers.

Still anotherobject ot our invention is to provide a ce' domper with suitable retarring` devices adapted to control the speed and movement oi the cars in their passage throughvthe dumper. v

A further object of our invention is to provide a car dumper of simple desi gn and. construction which has no moving parts except .those included in the retarding devices and will therefore assure 'a great saving in wear, J repairs, renewals andmaintenance,

i920. serieu No. 374,144.

solid eiid cars, although cars with swingiiig?,` -end gates' may be used it desired. Tim solid im ii end car is preferable to the swinging' end gate car because of its tight, rigid and stable construction. The solid end car therefore eliminates the damages and loss from dust7 loss of material and the consequent col- Ilect-ion of samealong the haulage roads and eliminates maintenance charges, that arise Afrom the unstable construction of other types of cars.

ther objects of our invention are to provide ay car dumpei' that can be used with di'erent kinds of inineopenings, such as slopes, shafts or drifts and will also allow sutlicient head room for screens, picking tables, etc., or for trucks, cars, or other devices. Furthermore, oui car dumper is arranged to reduce breakage ot the material handled to a minimum.

Our invention comprises a framework, on which is mounted a trackway that is provided with retarding or braking` devices adapted to control the speed of vthe cars in their passage through the dump-er. The tiackway comprises an ent-rance track, a pair of opposed curvilinear tracks spaced apart and adapted to engage the car wheels on opposite sides oi the centers thereof, and a delivery track. The shape ot the trac-kway is such that Pgravity actuates Vthe cars throughout their passage in the dumper and a loaded car entering the trackwav in the normal or upright position, is inverted, emptied and righted, whereupon it leaves the dumper on the delivery track, which may be connected with a kick-back or other well known means adapted to dispose oi the empty cars, The material dumped out ot the cars falls into a hopper and chute or discharging device mounted on the iraniework, where it is available :tor distribution to screens, picking-tables, etc., or to trucks, cars or other devices. u

Having thus given a general description of ourl invention, we will now, in order to make the matter more clear, refer to the two accompanying sheets of dawings,

.which forms part of this lspeeiiifration and on which like characters of reference refer to like parts.

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal seotional elevation of our improved car dumping apparatus taken on the line .1 -l of Figure 2, showing a mine car beginning its dumping movement;

Figure 2 is a vertical transverse sectional elevation taken on the line ll-ll of Figure 1;

Figure 3 a partial horizontal sectional view taken on the line lill-1H of Figure 15 and A Figure il is a detail sectional View ot a cushion provided for the upper movable track section.

Referring now tothe characters of reference on the drawings z-1 indicates the framework in general cf the car dumper which is preferably constructed from structural steel shapes designed so as to produce a strong and rigid struct-ure. Rails 2 and 3 attached to brackets 4 mounted on the framework 1 form opposed curvilinear tracks adapted to guide the car 42 in its passage through the dumper. ln order that the speed of the cars in their passage through the dumper may be properly controlled, suitable retarding devices are provided. The retarding devices comprise movable track sections adapted to decrease the distance between the tracks 2 and 3 and thus to bear against the car wheel treads, thereby slowing up the car at the will of the operator. rThe movable track sections consist of movable rails 5 and 6 suspended from the structural members 9 and 10 respectively at the points 7 and 8 respectively. The brackets 4 which support the movable rails 5 and 6 have the end 45 of one arm bearing against filler plates 44 which are secured to the movable rails 5 and 6.

The movable rails 6 are provided with cushions shown in detail in Figure 4. Each of these cushions has a spring 12 adapted to press against the buffer blocks 11 which are secured to the movable rails 6. The casing 14 houses the spring 12 and the disk 13 and is secured to the structural member 18, together with the flanged boss 16 by the bolts 17. The adjusting screw 15 engages the flanged boss 16 and bears against the disk 13 and is therefore adapted to vary the compression in the spring 12.

The upper pair of buffer blocks 11 have journaled therein the shaft 19 which passes through one end of the eccentric rods 20. The eccentric rods 2O engage, the eccentri'cs 21 mounted on the eccentric shaft 22, which has secured thereto the crank 23. The crank 23 is connected with the crank 25 ,on the operatingshaft 26 by the link 24. The' operating shaft 26 is mounted in bearings secured to the s tructurallmeinber 27. Secured tothe operating" shaft S26-is a manually contrlld lever 29 which is adapted to engage the toothed sector 28 mounted on the controlling stand. The operating shaft 26 also has secured thereto the crank 30 which is connected with the crank 32 on the shaft 33 .by the link 31.` The shaft 33 is mounted in bearings secured to the structural member 34 and has secured thereto the crank 35. The links 36 connect the cranks 35 to the shaft 37, which is mounted in bearings 38 secured tothe movable rails 5.

It is therefore evident that, by moving the controlling lever 29 in the desired direction, the operator can shift the movable track sections and thus decrease or increase the distance between the tracks, thereby producing any desired braking or decelerating of the car wheels 43, the amount of which can be so graduated as to permit passage of cars through the dumper at speeds consistent with safety. ItV is also evident that the speed of the car can be controlled on two independent track sections, i. e. the one formed by the movable rails 6 and the other by the movable rails 5, or when the car wheels engage both movabletrack sections, each can be operated to exertl a resistance adapted to decrease the speed of the car. Furthermore the movable track sections can be arranged to operate individually or collectively.

In the operation of 'our car dumper, a car comes in from the haulage-way or mine opening on to the inclined entrance track 46l at the top of the dumper, whence the car 42 actuated by gravity passes along the opposed curvilinear tracks to the position shown by the full lines in Figure 1. At this point the car 42 is beginning-to tilt and discharge its load which has but a short distance to fall on to the inclined surface of the top portion 39 of the hopper 40, whence it slides into the hopper 40. As the car 42 passes on between the upper portions of opposed curvilinear tracks its speed is controlled by the operator who moves the controlling lever 29, thus actuating the retarding device as heretofore described. Finally the car 42 reaches the inverted position shown by the dotted lines in Figure 1 and has then emptied .its entirel load into the hopper 40 from which the material is available for distribution through the chute 41 to screens, picking tables, etc. or to trucks, cars or other devices. lf the delivery track 47 is not clear, the car 42 can be held in the inverted position shown in dotted lines in Figure 1 by the retarding device actuating the movable rails 5. If clear, however, the car passes on around the lower portion of opposed curvilinear tracks and is thereby righted, whence it leaves the dumper on the delivery track 48, shown in dotted lines on Figure 1, to a kick-back or on the delivery tra-ck 47, Vslovvn in 'ful'llin'es nFigure 1i, to

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any well known means adapted to dispose of the empty cars.

The essential portion of the apparatus comprising our car dumper is a track arranged in the form of an upright reverse curve with an entrance track, preferably inclining downwardly toward the first portion of the curve and with a delivery track which either may be inclined downwardly, level or inclining upwardly from the delivery end of the lower curved track, the delivery track being so arranged as to slightly retard the motion of the car preparatory to delivering it to a switchbaek or to another track for further use. In other words, our trackway may be generally arranged in the form of an upright S-curve in a sinuous manner in upright direction. We prefer, of course, to arrange the curves substantially vertical, but they need not be exactly vertical, although they are upright.

rlhe advantages of our invention are readily apparent, for it provides a car dumper that insures economy and efiiciency in operation, since it requires no power and needs but one man to operate it. Furthermore, it is adapted to handle different types of cars and particularly the solid end car, which has so many advantages over other types of cars, and yet is not available for use in many of the present car dumpers. Our car dumper also handles materials with the breakage thereof reduced to a minimum and yet deposits the material in a convenient place for further distribution. The different kinds of mine openings to which our car dumper is adapted and the convenient head room which it assures also add to its advantages. rEhe absence of movable parts except those included in the retarding devices assures low maintenance charges on our ear dumper and the retarding devices which are relatively simple and yet efficient have but few parts that are subject to wear.

Although we have shown and described our improvements in considerable detail, we do not wish to be limited to the exact and speciiic details shown and described, but may use such substitutions, modifications or equivalents thereof, as are embraced within the scope of our invention, or as pointed out in the claims.

lfiaving thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l. A car dumper'comprising a continuous track with inclined and vertically curved ,vos

portions, and friction means for retarding the movement of a car thereon.

2. A car dumper arranged in an upright sinuous manner and provided with friction means for retarding the movement of a car thereon.

3. A car dumper comprising a track having the general form of an upright S-curve, another track portion substantially parallel to and opposite a portion thereof, and means for moving said latter track to or from the track aforesaid, thereby retarding the movement of a car thereon.

4. A car dumper comprising a trackway provided with two opposed tracks spaced apart and having the general form of an upright reverse curve, entrance and delivery tracks connected with the upper and lower ends respectively of one of said opposed tracks, a movable track portion in one of said opposed tracks and means for actuating said movable track portion to or from the other track.

5. A car dumper comprising a trackway having two substantially parallel tracks in the general form of a vertical reverse curve, entrance and delivery tracks connected with one of said parallel tracks, movable portions in one of said tracks, and means for actuating said movable portions to or from the other track. i

6. A car dumper, including a continuous trackway comprising entrance and delivery tracks and intermediate therebetween two opposed tracks arranged substantially parallel and having the general form of an upright reverse curve, friction means adapted to control the movement of a car on said trackway, and a material receiving means mounted below the upper portion of the curve.

y 7. A car dumper comprising' a track pr0- vided with inclined entrance and delivery tracks and an intermediate portion in the general form of a vertical reverse curve, a second track opposite and substantially parallel to the intermediate portion of the rst track, movable track portions in the first track, means adapted to actuate said mov able track portions, and a material receiving dumper, a hopper adapted to receive the material dumped from the ear, and a chute leading from said hopper.

In witness whereof we hereunto aiiix our signatures.

DANIEL M. HARR'LS. JESSE W. BAIR. 

